June 28, 2006

Slate asked several directors and critics to name the movies they've rewatched the most. Spike Lee names "Election." He's watched it more than 40 times. Excellent choice. I've rewatched that one a few times. Nowhere near 40 though. [CORRECTION: Slate's layout confused me. Spike Lee names "West Side Story," with zero commentary, and the next guy, Adam McKay, a director I'd never heard of, names "Election."]

Lots of other interesting choices -- along with some crushingly boring ones. I mean, even if your true answer is "Citizen Kane," please spare me. I wrote that before reading through the whole list and getting to Dana Stevens, who begins: "Leaving out the movies everyone's seen countless times (The Wizard of Oz, Citizen Kane, It's a Wonderful Life)...." I suspect most of the answers followed that rule without saying it.

I love this subject of what you want to rewatch. To watch something the first time is to respond to some mysterious mix of your own imagination and the various things you've heard. Maybe something about a poster or some feeling about a movie star pulls you in. Then you find out if it was what you thought it would be or if you're surprised in a good way. But rewatching a movie, you know basically what's there, and you're making a choice to relive what you know or you have a sense that there are places in there where new things can be found. It's a richer, deeper experience. Oh, that reminds me of what Andre says about marriage -- as opposed to an affair -- at the end of my most rewatched movie, "My Dinner With Andre."

I'm surprised there aren't more old musicals on the list. I mean, I've watched Kiss me Kate several times, and it's always fun. Ditto Meet me in St. Louis, Singing in the Rain (both of which were mentioned) and Annie get your Gun.

I think The Sound of Music was the first movie I've seen more than once in the theater -- Mom took me twice. And who hasn't seen The Wizard of Oz more than once? I watched it every year when it was on TV back in the 60s.

My favorite movie to rewatch is “A Room with a View” I love Merchant Ivory period pieces and this one has it all. Lush scenery and beautiful Edwardian era costumes. Characters that seem like real people even though they’re from a hundred years ago. Romance. That beautiful opera music. Some of the best English actors working today. Sexual tension even though there’s really no sex. And yet there’s also full frontal male nudity – something there’s far too little of in movies. Yes, just transport me back there every time I’m feeling down.

It is Andy Kaufman having breakfast with "Classy" Fred Blassie, a pro wrestler in the 1950's and a manager through the 80's. It spoofs your beloved "My Dinner with Andre" so you would either love it or hate it.

Blassie and Kaufman discuss the nature of celebrity while being interrupted for their autographs. All while having sausage and eggs at Sambo’s (yep, that’s what they called Denny’s).

"No...it has to Mars." (actually, from Ahhnold its "Mahhhhhs" - fantastic. Total Recall isn't a very good movie but its fantastically campy, and I can't say I've ever flipped the channel away once I've randomly encountered it on cable.

The movie I love to rewatch the most though is "Avalon" by Barry Levinson. Its a very good film with wonderful acting in all of the roles but what keeps drawing me back is its focus on the family and its bittersweet acknowledgment of how achieving the American dream can pick away at family cohesiveness. It also captures the wonder that many surely feel about the great patriarchs and matriarchs of their own families through the memories of their childhood. I might watch it tonight!

Also love Bottle Rocket, Room with a View, Raising Arizona, The Princess Bride. West Side Story is painful with that '60s lingo! Election and Citizen Ruth, very good films by A. Payne, a nice Midwestern boy.

Two favorites that never fail to delight are Rushmore (Wes Anderson's first biggie after Bottle Rocket) and Heavenly Creatures, to me, much more mesmerizing and fabulist that Jackson's later films.

God yes, how did I forget Moonstruck. And Christmas Story is a real family tradition.Once was enough for Citizen Kane. And oddly enough, though I love Scorsese's movies, I can only stand to watch them once. Violent, wrenching and scorching hot.

I am embarrassed to say it, but Valley Girl which I watched a million times as a teen and recently bought it again. It's my late night or home sick fav. It was Nicolas Cage's first movie as "Cage" and he had his original teeth (now he has chicklit teeth that changed his whole face) and was oh so cute. Awesome 80's soundtrack. I know every line. I'm pa-thet-ic.

Classics I watch over and over include Now Voyager and the Philadelphia Story. More recent, Kill Bill 1 and 2 and the Sixth Sense.

I'm glad someone else finally mentioned "The Princess Bride" - I was beginning to wonder about the people around here.

Shrek also scores high replays as well as Chicken Run.

I'm not one for serious cinema - going to see Cars tomorrow night. However, Glory (Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington)and Apollo 13 also used to get played a lot when I was the only one in front of the TV.

I WATCH FAHRENHEIT 911 OVER AND OVER BECAUSE IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MOVIE I WILL EVER SEE

Wait, no, nevermind.

It seems to be the hip, post-modern thing to put down Citizen Kane, but it's a beautiful movie, and quite exciting to rewatch.

Me? I've watched "The Shining" and "Barry Lyndon" many times each, both visually and intellectually rewarding films that yield new things every time. Most of Kubrick's work does well on multiple viewings.

Interesting how often the old Hitchcock classics show up in these comments. I've recorded them off of Turner Classic Movies and have worn out the tapes of "Rear Window," "Vertigo," and "North By Northwest."

I would add "The Rope" to the list of rewatchables. Also, "Citizen Kane" truly is well worth multiple viewings, whether or not it sounds pretentious to say so.

Wow, The Big Lebowski sure does take a lot of votes. Of course as a Coen Bros fan I am not unhappy about that, but it didn't reel me in like Raising Arizona did in my college days. Maybe that's because those were my college days. :)

Yes, I bought it on videotape back when "Man on the Moon" came out and everyone was talking about Andy Kaufman. I was predisposed to like it or I wouldn't have bought it. But I was very disappointed, not because it mocked my favorite movie, but because it wasn't very good. Andy just hated the movie and didn't have the knowledge of it to make an interesting spoof. It was quite amateurish and pointless.

The Hudsucker Proxy which is much better than The Big Lebowski. ("You know.... For kids!")

Run Lola, Run - I believe it was Lola Rennt in German. This movie was simply fantastic. I think everyone at UF must have seen this at least two or three times at the Hip. ("Der tasche...." "Der tasche...." "Der tasche...." "Der tasche...." "...Der TASCHE!") (If you haven't seen the movie there is no way that quote can make any sense.)

Conan the Barbarian shows Arnold at his best, before he took too many acting lessons. Plus, great over-the-top dialogue by John Milius.

The Endless Summer, The Endless Summer II, Step Inot Liquid and Riding Giants. What a great set of movies! The DVD commentary with the surfers on Riding Giants makes it two movies in one. Man, can that Greg Noll cuss....

(Famous surfers in five out of seven movies so far. I'm sensing a trend.)

To make it an even ten, three David Lean films I love to watch over and over again: The Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia.

The Coen I've watched repeatedly is O' Brother Where Art Thou, maybe because I'm a girl and just don't get The Big L. I think O'Brother is just about the most perfect movie.

Some Like it Hot - which I'd seen repeatedly on TV, but not until I saw it big screen (actually the side of a house, but that isn't the point) that I finally "got" Marilyn Monroe. And the costumes! In one scene Monroe might as well have been naked and I'd never noticed on the small screen.

Blade RunnerChicagoCabaret

And will you hold my youthful enthusiasm for Harold and Maude against me?

Michael, At last! There are 3 of us in the universe that love Hudson Hawk.

I gave my nephews a copy of The Princess Bride but cannot convince them it isn't a girlie movie.

Oh, and my secret feel good movie - American Dreamer. You've probably never heard of it. Jo Beth Williams plays an unhappy housewife who wins a trip to Paris, gets knocked unconcious upon arrival and wakes up believing she is her favorite fictional character - a super spy. Pure chick fantasy, and it always makes me happy.

I never understood why people like Citizen Kane. It's not a good movie. Your just supposed to like it because it has become trendy to say you like it. No one actually cares or likes the actual movie.

- It's like a Jackson Pollock painting. Look at a Pollock painting without all the background noise, and it is what it is - no better than a giant finger painting my my 4 year old. Add in all the cliche trendy stuff that surrounds the painting and all of a sudden its a masterpiece...

It's an odd choice, I admit, but I've probably seen Stephen Frears' "The Snapper," a charming little movie made for the BBC from the very funny Roddy Doyle book, more than any other movie ... It's just a great little working-class comedy

Honestly compels me to name "Star Wars" (the original)--I was in college when it came out (1977), and my (former) wife and I saw it seven (7) times during its theatrical run (which, in pre-megaplex days, lasted nearly a year). Once it came out on VHS, we bought it, and our kids watched it heavily--I lost count of my own total watchings at around 20.

In the last 10 years, the two movies that I have deliberately rewatched the most (i.e., dug out the DVD and sat down) are "About A Boy" (one of the best movies in the last 10 years, IMHO), and "Scrooge" and "A Christmas Story" (dug out every Christmas). Creeping up there is "Cold Comfort Farm", but it hasn't been out on DVD all that long.

"I never understood why people like Citizen Kane. It's not a good movie. Your just supposed to like it because it has become trendy to say you like it. No one actually cares or likes the actual movie."

Really? I don't like or care about "Citizen Kane"? Gee, I thought I did. Thanks for telling me the real truth about myself.

"It's like a Jackson Pollock painting. Look at a Pollock painting without all the background noise, and it is what it is - no better than a giant finger painting my my 4 year old. Add in all the cliche trendy stuff that surrounds the painting and all of a sudden its a masterpiece...""

You want cliché? Describe a Jackson Pollock painting as "no better than a giant finger painting my 4 year old [could do]" Really, how many times has that line been used to put down paintings? Get some new material. And get a new four year old, because if your current four year old is as good as Pollock was, they should be famous by now. Obviously someone's overstating their talent.

Yeah, she's "like Jello, on springs!" (I think it was Jack Lemmon's character who says that.)

This is a wonderful discussion; I'm making a list now of things to see and re-see. How did I leave off Blade Runner, and Fargo? And Ferris Bueller? I actually used the "anyone? anyone?" line in class the other day (it's summer, we're all hot and sleepy in class) and they're all so young, no one got it. At least I didn't follow up with Principle Rooney's famous "smooch" line.

Ben Stein is cracking me up with a current TV ad (for cable movies), where he's cut back into "Ferris Bueller" (looking not too much older after the hair re-touch) taking roll, calling out--well, you know.

Yeah, I know that it's out of print. I just don't get why a dvd goes out of print. I mean, it's data and a package.

I know that Disney intentionally games the market by putting popular titles in its "vault" for a decade or so. Not a practice that I support, which is why I refuse to buy any Disney crap that's advertised as "going into the vault."

However, Disney has one gem of a short film -- Donald in Mathmagic Land -- that I wish they would stop screwing around with. I've been trying to buy it for years. Seems that Disney may have released it for a short time a year or two ago, but I missed it. Damn.

Speaking of Woody Allen, I've watched "Manhattan" about 5 times. Not so sure I like the movie so much as I like the cinematography of New York City. Personal faves would have to be "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Vertigo". NYC and San Francisco, both cities to visit but maybe not live in.

The first is what do you really rewatch often. And for me that includes the usual suspects of The Seven Samurai, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, and Godfather I +II.

The more interesting question is probably what do you rewatch often that's not the usual film student answer. One of my most rewatched films is the original Nosferatu. It's not exactly scary, but I love the atmosphere. I'm surprised to say that the other is Tim Burton's Batman. It's certainly a flawed film, but it's a film I enjoy picking at. The references to Citizen Kane, the expressionistic aspects, the way it holds back from fulling embracing the lead, and the fact that while most people dismiss it as a over the top fantasy, the Joker's plots echo the Tylenol tampering case and the Tokyo subway Sarin gas attacks. There's a blend of reality and unreality there that I just find interesting.

Good to see someone mention "Rocky Horror." Great fun and highly rewatchable. Of course, for the rest of the day, I'll be thinking about Susan Sarandon's performance of "Toucha Toucha Toucha Touch Me."

It is a good discussion--Netflix must be having an upsurge of traffic all of the sudden! I'm ordering Dinner/Andre, the Conformist (just saw Garden of the Finzi-Continis again), Fargo, Some Like it Hot (nobody's perfect!), and Looney Tunes Classics.

Thunderheart is also very good and currently on HBO all the time. Ignacio, you might like Diva by Beineix.

OK I will indulge myself in revealing my top 11 in no particular order

Star Wars: A New Hope Ep. IV (but really, still just Star Wars, and mostly when it first came out)

The Lavender Hill Mob (I can't believe they are remaking this film, most likely bad, bad, bad, given the lack of casting details, hopefully they saw the Ladykillers remake and realized, you can't touch Alec Guinness/Ealing comedies)

Dr. Strangelove, commentary is useless, a nearly perfect film.

Monty Python's Meaning of Liff (that's not a typo), uneven, but the good bits are very good, and even the bad bits have their charm.

Russ Meyer's SuperVixen (the best of the Vixen Trilogy) (It's a Chuck Jones cartoon with large breasted women, what could be better?)

Absolute Beginners (Great music, Amazing tracking shot to start the film, not a great film, but so what)

Rashomon, wrote a final project for an English class on this film, so watching and rewatching was a self-imposed chore, still not sick of the film, despite that.

Team America: World Police, America F#@& Yeah!, enough said really.

Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast, finest fairy tale ever filmed by a surrealist icon, all films should begin with a title card that says, 'Once upon a time . . .' (haven't tried to find the Opera version)

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Not Almodovar's best, but definitely his most watchable film. He's a great director, and Carmen Maura is terrific in this picture.

And speaking od Donald in Mathemagic Land, I must have seen that dozens of times in Elementary School, that and The Red Balloon were the 'Rainy Day Reels' that would be played when it was too wet outside during recess.

(and yes, I'm old enough to have been in school back when they would have played those on film, favorite part is when they would rewind the film with the film in the projector, usually at double speed, so got to see everything backwards, trippy stuff that (at least to a 7 year old))

The Ninth Configuration by William Peter Blatty is my number one re-watched film. I lost count at around 17 times but I'm sure it is up to about 25 by now. (And it gets extra point on this thread for having a "Famous Lines from Famous Movies" sub-theme.)

I saw Silence of the Lambs 7 times in the theater but it had such an impact on my finances that I had to buy the book to tide me over until it came out on video. The book wasn't as good as the movie -- something I don't say very often. I can't watch it very often now because it gives my wife nightmares.

I also saw Alien 3, Batman and David Lynch's Dune multiple times in the theater. Preferably the show that gets out after midnight so you can drive home alone and go to sleep without breaking the mood.

Thanks, Ann, for that word of advice. I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a new issue in the offing. Usually, I have to buy the old, overpriced, bad version for the studio to release the new, improved, and cheaper version.

Ignacio, I second Pat's recommendation of Diva. You'll have to go buy a good Satie collection afterward. I worked at a small theater in the early 80s and watched that movie about 20 times, from the lobby door.

These are all fine pictures. They are not necessarily my all time favorites, though a few are. But I've watched them many times.

Why? I'm not talking two or three times, I'm talking 10-plus. Why???

There are three theories.

Robert Towne's theory is that we like the characters. We already know the plot, so what other explanation is there? The characters are like our friends and we like to visit them from time to time. This theory is okay as far as it goes. It makes sense with a film like Stalag 17. But it doesn't explain something like Blade Runner, which has no likeable characters.

Quentin Tarantino's theory is that movies function like music. A movie is like an album and scenes are like songs. I like this theory better than Towne's. The movies we watch over and over are the ones we catch in the middle while flipping and then stay for a while, and then we might leave. Like listening to a couple of songs from an album. This theory is especially apt when it comes to comedies, action pictures, and "filmic" or "camera happy" pictures like Scorsese's, Hitchcock's, or the work of Paul Thomas Anderson.

The third theory was expressed by Frank Whaley in the film Swimming With Sharks. For him, movies are about memories. He describes how rewatching a movie instantly reminds him of where he was in his life when he first saw it. If anyone has a Star Wars picture or Grease or, God forbid, Footloose, on their list, there's probably some of that going on.

I think all three theories are in play when we watch movies over and over again.

I mostly rewatch movies. There are a lot of well-known movies I've never seen, but I'll stop and watch part or all of:

Dr. StrangelovePulp FictionGroundhog DayEd WoodA Night at the OperaChinatownSome Like it HotThe Odd CoupleSeven Days in MayNotoriousRear WindowA Place in the SunRed RiverThe CowboysThe Sons of Katie ElderGodfather and Godfather IIThe In-Laws (original version)Prizzi's HonorWhat About Bob? the first Lord of the Rings movieNorth By NorthwestDuck SoupElectionGhostLA ConfidentialDr. NoThe Third ManThe Seven-Year Itch

and now I'll stop. There are quite a few. I don't need a desert island, I already act like I have one.

I'm not surprised several have named The Big Lebowski. It's gotta be my most re-watched DVD! If I'm bored or depressed and don't know what to watch, that's one I can always plop in and never be sick of. Like most Coen movies, it gets funnier with more viewings. John Goodman is fantastic! I think it's so re-watchable because it's more about the characters than the plot.

Anyway, here's my list:

Big Lebowski Dawn of the Dead - original (having a mall to yourself is a cool fantasy)Planes, Trains and AutomobilesBarry LyndonJackie Brown (Tarantino writing for Samuel Jackson is movie gold)ScarfaceThe Spanish Prisoner (it's odd how re-watchable it is even after you know the plot twists)DeliveranceRomper Stomper The Good, the Bad and the UglyDie HardRushmoreAfter Hours SorcererNotoriousCome & See (you can't watch this WW2 movie too often because it's too upsetting, but I've watched it many times over the years)